Key Points
- Egg prices in China have hit three-year highs, with the national average reaching ¥10.87 RMB ($1.50 USD) per kilogram in early June 2026, marking a 21.3% increase year-over-year.
- This surge is due to a tight supply situation, primarily caused by farmers’ reluctance to restock chicks in late 2025 and early 2026 following a period of oversupply and low prices, coupled with an aging hen population.
- The national inventory of laying hens fell to 1.279 billion in May, a 4.24% decrease year-over-year, exacerbating the supply shortage.
- Poultry companies, previously facing significant losses (e.g., Hunan Xiangjia Animal Husbandry’s 2025 net profit collapsed by 66.41%), are now experiencing a profit recovery, with egg farm profits reaching up to ¥2.03 RMB ($0.28 USD) per 500 grams as of June 4, 2026.
- While new hens from spring restocking may slightly soften prices in late June, a significant drop is unlikely due to overall low inventory levels, suggesting continued tight supply.
- Status: 3-Year Price Highs
- Key Driver: Tight Supply (under-restocking in late 2025)
- Current Inventory: 1.279 Billion Hens (Down 4.24% YoY)
- Profitability: Returned to Black in Q2 2026
Something unexpected just happened in China’s egg market.
While May and June typically mark the slowest season for egg consumption—prices usually stay flat or dip—the market threw everyone a curveball this year.
Egg prices just hit their highest levels in three years, and it’s forcing a complete reset across the entire poultry industry.
The Numbers Don’t Lie: Egg Prices Are Surging
Walk into any supermarket or scroll through e-commerce platforms across China right now, and you’ll notice it immediately.
Retail egg prices have blown past ¥10 RMB ($1.38 USD) per kilogram, with premium varieties climbing even higher.
According to official data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (Nongye Nongcun Bu 农业农村部), here’s what the numbers show:
- National average price in early June: ¥10.87 RMB ($1.50 USD) per kilogram
- Week-over-week increase: Up 5.9% from the previous week
- Year-over-year comparison: Up 21.3% compared to the same period in 2025
- In major producing provinces like Hebei (Hebei 河北) and Liaoning (Liaoning 辽宁): Prices hit ¥10.60 RMB ($1.46 USD) per kilogram—a staggering 41.7% increase year-over-year
The futures market is telling the same story.
The main egg contract for August 2026 reached ¥4,936 RMB ($682.43 USD) per 500 kilograms on June 1—its highest level since August 2023.
Since early April, cumulative gains have exceeded 20%, with the contract quoted at ¥4,748 RMB ($656.45 USD) per 500 kilograms as of mid-June.
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What’s Causing This Tight Supply Situation?
The oversupply nightmare that plagued the entire 2025 egg market has finally reversed.
Multiple market insiders report the same core issue: tight supply is now the dominant force, and it’s driving prices up across the board.
Vendors at farmers’ markets are seeing the pressure firsthand.
At a Zhengzhou (Zhengzhou 郑州) market, vendors reported egg prices climbing roughly ¥1 RMB ($0.14 USD) per 500 grams over just two weeks—much steeper than typical summer increases.
Wholesale costs have jumped even harder: wholesale prices are rising by ¥50 RMB to ¥60 RMB ($6.91 USD to $8.30 USD) per crate.
According to Luo Fei (Luo Fei 罗飞), an egg analyst at Mysteel (Shanghai Ganglian 上海钢联), the situation in May and June 2026 marks the highest egg prices for this period in three years.
Here’s how the May data breaks down:
- May 2026: Average price ¥4.40 RMB ($0.61 USD) per 500 grams
- May 2025: Average price ¥3.11 RMB ($0.43 USD) per 500 grams
- May 2024: Average price ¥3.83 RMB ($0.53 USD) per 500 grams
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The Root Causes: Why Supply Got So Tight
Several factors collided to create this perfect storm:
1. Older Hens & Declining Egg-Laying Rates
A high proportion of the laying hen population is aging, which naturally reduces productivity.
New capacity additions have remained limited, so the industry can’t quickly replace these older birds.
2. Low Inventories Across the Supply Chain
Inventories in both production facilities and distribution networks are sitting at low levels.
This leaves minimal buffer stock to absorb demand spikes.
3. Holiday Stockpiling & Regional Demand Surges
Bulk purchases for the Dragon Boat Festival by food factories created unexpected demand.
At the same time, strong demand from Southern China exacerbated the shortage.
4. The Farmer’s Restocking Problem
Here’s where it gets interesting from a supply chain perspective.
Egg farming operates on a distinct cycle: it takes approximately four months from purchasing a chick to the start of egg production.
In 2025, oversupply and rock-bottom prices made farmers extremely reluctant to purchase new chicks in Q4 2025.
This cautious approach carried into Q1 2026, creating a massive supply gap.
The math is simple: fewer new chicks being raised in late 2025 and early 2026 means fewer hens laying eggs now.
Wang Xiaohui (Wang Xiaohui 王晓慧), an analyst at Zhuochuang Information (Zhuochuang Zixun 卓创资讯), confirmed the scale of the problem: in May, the national inventory of laying hens fell to 1.279 billion, down 1.24% month-over-month and 4.24% year-over-year.
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Wall Street’s Version: How Egg Prices Are Reshaping Poultry Stocks
China’s A-share market has absolutely noticed this trend.
Poultry companies have been in serious pain for over a year.
From 2025 through Q1 2026, these enterprises faced immense pressure.
Case in point: Hunan Xiangjia Animal Husbandry (Xiangjia 湘佳) saw its 2025 net profit collapse by 66.41% year-over-year.
But the recovery is already underway.
Recent stock price winners include:
- Kingkey Smart Agriculture (Jingji Zhinong 京基智农) — consecutive “limit-up” price increases
- Hunan Xiangjia Animal Husbandry (Xiangjia Guofen 湘佳股份)
- Ningxia Xiaoming Agriculture & Animal Husbandry (Xiaoming Guofen 晓鸣股份)
- Shandong Minhe Animal Husbandry (Minhe Gufen 民和股份)
- Shandong Yisheng Livestock & Poultry Breeding (Yisheng Gufen 益生股份)
- Jiangsu Lihua Animal Husbandry (Lihua Gufen 立华股份)
The Profit Recovery Story
According to a representative from Xiangjia: “The egg business has returned to profitability in the second quarter.”
The recovery is backed by solid supply-demand fundamentals, not temporary hype.
Here’s what the profit picture looks like:
- May 2026: Most egg farms were profitable, with profits ranging from ¥0.5 RMB to ¥1.2 RMB ($0.07 USD to $0.17 USD) per 500 grams
- June 4, 2026: Profits in major production areas reached ¥2.03 RMB ($0.28 USD) per 500 grams
- February 2026 (for comparison): The industry was recording losses of ¥0.39 RMB ($0.05 USD) per 500 grams
That’s a massive swing—from losing money to making meaningful profit in just a few months.
The Downstream Effect: Food Companies Adapting
Eggs are a critical raw material for baking, food processing, and commercial food manufacturing.
You’d expect panic downstream.
Instead, the impact has remained surprisingly contained.
Companies like:
- Ovofood (Oufu Dan-ye 欧福蛋业)
- Ichido (Yuanzu Guofen 元祖股份)
- Toly Bread (Taoli Mianbao 桃李面包)
…have all indicated that the impact on current operations is small and terminal product prices remain stable.
The reason? Early procurement planning.
Companies like Keming Food (Keming Shipin 克明食品) already secured inventory before prices spiked, which is smart supply chain management.
What’s Next: Will Prices Stay High?
The immediate future depends on when new hens start laying.
According to Luo Fei, as new hens from the spring peak restocking begin laying in late June, supply pressure may increase, potentially softening prices.
However, Wang Xiaohui offers a more measured view: “While prices may retreat slightly after the holiday demand peak, the adjustment will likely be limited to within ¥1 RMB ($0.14 USD) per 500 grams due to the overall low inventory levels.”
Translation: Don’t expect prices to crash back down.
The fundamentals are still tight, and inventory levels remain depressed.
At best, we’re looking at a modest pullback, not a return to 2025’s oversupply nightmare.
The Bottom Line on China’s Egg Market Dynamics
China’s egg market is experiencing a dramatic reversal from oversupply to tight supply, driven by farmer reluctance to restock during 2025’s price collapse and a complex four-month production cycle.
The data is clear: prices are at three-year highs, profits are returning to poultry companies after brutal losses, and the market is recalibrating.
For investors, this represents a textbook case of supply-demand dynamics playing out in real time.
For downstream food manufacturers, the message is equally clear: secure your egg supply early or face margin pressure.
The tight supply dynamics in China’s egg market are reshaping the entire poultry industry for 2026 and beyond.
References
- Tight Supply Drives Egg Prices: Poultry Farms Expected to See Profit Recovery – Shanghai Securities News
- Inventory and Trends in the Poultry Market – China Egg Network
- Market Data and Analysis on Agricultural Products – Mysteel (Shanghai Ganglian)
- China Commodity Market Insights – Zhuochuang Information (SCI 99)
